Teylon: Doing his party trick again
It''s night time already.
Right, an asteroid alert, category zero. What''s this, about the fifth since I''ve been on Mars? It certainly can be scary, living in a fragile dome surrounded by vacuum and vulnerable to any little hypersonic rock that decides to make us a little visit. And nice to know that there is something above me that can take out said rock, if need be.
Do they do it with lasers, or by firing projectiles?
Never mind. Whatever it is, I''m sure they have done their best to ensure our safety.
All of this research is fine, yes, but is it getting me anywhere with my task?
Not really.
Still not much joy here, is there?
It''s obvious that the powers that be are not releasing much in the way of useful information.
So, what are they hiding?
Maybe they want to keep it all to themselves? After all, they are extremely careful not to let any espers get anywhere near the surface of Earth. Although they grudgingly allow some out to the asteroid belt settlements. After all, without esp users powering the spaceships, the asteroid settlements would be severely handicapped.
Let''s see, esp powers were announced a little less than twenty five years ago. To much disbelief, of course. It took five or so years before they were generally accepted. And, of course, one reason for the slow acceptance was that the first espers were little babies and toddlers.
So, if the oldest known espers are about twenty five, and allowing for a few years before that for them, whoever they are, to get going, then I suppose that means they must have started about thirty years ago.
Reading between the lines, there must have been some tragedies with the first espers. Although all of the official documentation tends to skirt around the issue.
But still, it is there in the official application form.
So, it can only be done at about the 14th week point in a pregnancy.
It doesn''t cost anything. Which is interesting, normally you have to pay for everything on Mars.
There is a clear warning that there are dangers associated with the procedure.
And, hmm, the would be mother is put under a light sedative at the hospital, and is taken - somewhere - for the procedure, and returned.
And no one knows where.
And we still don''t know how.
After thirty years, and all of the research might of Earth, no one has figured out what the hell an esp ability is.
That''s right, the governments and military organisations and universities went nuts trying to work out what was going on.
I guess they are still trying, although I lost interest in the whole subject after a while.
And is all of this relevant to my task?
Probably. After all, I have gathered five teenagers all with esp implants - although Sarsaparilla''s doesn''t appear to be functional.
I remember now, it wasn''t just the Martian discovery of esp abilities that stirred things up, it was the whole colonise Mars thing. Ah, yes, that school project I did, way back when I was in junior high. Gave me the perfect excuse to talk about a prostitute (well, ex-prostitute) and a crooked billionaire in front of class, and even the teacher never suspected that that was my underlying intention. Those two ladies must have been running some grand con there, I''m sure. Somehow, when all of the major super powers had given up on space exploration, they, the leaders of their respective minor countries, managed to launch a research project to get man onto Mars. And they actually managed to do so! By the time of my talk, there were already people living permanently on Mars.
Did that ever stir up the geopolitical scene! A couple of little pipsqueak countries beating the super powers into space!
And because of that I was able to talk about Molly the prostitute and Imelda the billionaire despot for twenty minutes to a bunch of school kids!
Oh, to be a teenage hormone charged boy again - not.
Although I''ve never been able to work out how they pulled off that heist. Apparently, no one has. They must have had access to top-secret scientific data from somebody, that''s for sure. But none of the major powers owned up to being the original owners.
Well, anyway, that was a grand con for sure.
Reminds me of my own, minor, cons. Those were the days, stealing from the rich and corrupt and distributing the largess around to the more worthy.
Ah, such fun times...
OK! OK! Esmeralda! I take the hint.
Sigh.
I wasn''t so crash hot, after all.
Ah, I''m tired of this. I should get out and do some walking or weight lifting...
Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Sarsaparilla
Yeah, Teylon is sure correct, relationships are difficult. But we seem to be making some sort of progress.
Teylon:
Err, a soul reading from Sarsaparilla? But, why?
Teylon’s Soul Reading of: An unknown man.
Teylon:
Sarsaparilla!
Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Yet another unknown man.
Teylon:
Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Yet another unknown man.
Teylon:
Oh shit.
Teylon’s Soul Reading of: An unknown man.
Teylon:
Who the hell is he? And why did his thoughts seem so - blank?
Shit, I''ve got to ring her! Where''s my telephone?
Oh, that''s right, this is Mars, it''s on my wrist.
Damn, I''m not very good at this emergency response thingy, am I?
Wait, I know someone who is!
She''s all right. All right. I can relax.
Err, wait on, I''m hugging a teenage girl whom I''ve never done anything more than shake hands with - and she only likes girls - oh
I know what happened, but they just have my word for it.
What a relief, now they won''t all think I''ve gone nuts.
two spare bedrooms.
extremely illegal on Mars. After all, they lived in pressurised domes that were made out of thin layers of materials. Having a bullet go through those layers was not something that anyone wanted. So guns and rifles were extremely rare on Mars, and the places that could possibly manufacture them all had a lot of oversight. Consequently, it was a very interesting question as to where that rifle came from.
I really panicked there, didn''t I?
The thought of Sarsaparilla dying was enough to fill me with panic and fear.
Those kids...
Sarawatch is going to have fun at my expense the next time we meet, that''s for sure.
Deep Underground
killing her." said Arnold.
Maggie: Shocked and horrified to her core.
I wonder how Dad is going. The latest news doesn''t seem all that promising, although he would never admit that anything bad was happening.
Huh? I''m sure they had confirmed my regular practice session booking.
No emails about any cancellations, either.
Well, damn it, if they''re too lazy to turn up and not even give me notice, I''m just going to go up to the surface and do some practice.
Hmm, perhaps I won''t go full out, since there is no emergency backup. I''ll aim to practice fine control instead of trying to produce the biggest blast possible.
I wish they would get around to repairing that. I don''t want to be continually reminded of my poor aim on that day.
Someone else is here? Now that''s dangerous, two separate people practicing dangerous manoeuvre without the command centre coordinating them...
Say, isn''t that Shane the Shield?
He''s practicing making small shields?
Strange, what exactly is he doing...
There''s someone else! So they''re having a sparring contest... Hey, she''s a girl, looks like a teenager my age...
Must be her ability. She fires at Shane who blocks them. And then he fires a small spherical shield back...
What?
What!?
Whaaaat??
Damn the cheapskates; they must have used plastic membranes to seal the ground!
I need to call the medicos - wait a moment!
She''s visibly fading. No worries like hell!
Why is she talking like that?
He''s mad. Mad. Cloning doesn''t work like that.
But cloning a person in a month is impossible. Impossible! Anyone with high school level knowledge of biology and genetics and human intelligence would know that!
And what''s that crap about getting a boost?
My God! My God! What do I do?
Before I start screaming, I had better get help.
Ignore the blood. Ignore the blood. Whom do I ring?